


See Me After Class

by angryessays



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-01-09 06:28:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12270780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angryessays/pseuds/angryessays
Summary: Thomas is working through grad school as a TA for Dr. Richard Clarkson. Jimmy is in Dr. Clarkson's gen ed biology class.





	1. First Day Troubles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ficklefernweh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ficklefernweh/gifts).



Thomas hastily pushed his arms into the sleeves of his grey blazer jacket. “Oh fuck, fuck, fuck,” he breathed, running out of Dr. Clarkson’s office toward the stairs. He ignored the worried stares of the custodial staff and meandering seniors as he burst out the side doors of the MacLeod building and took off toward the Science Hall. He nearly knocked over the students waiting in the hall for him to unlock the door; Dr. Clarkson was nowhere in sight, thankfully. He quickly turned the key and moved to let everyone inside. “Sorry for the delay, I’m usually here to open the classroom ahead of time, but it’s the first day troubles, you know!” Thankfully, most of the students that had looked annoyed waiting had become quite cheerful upon his arrival. He would be earning that chili pepper this semester.

Once everyone was in their seats, Thomas began his spiel, “My name is Thomas Barrow, I’m Dr. Clarkson’s TA. Let me be the first to welcome you to BIO 100.” He supposed he had paused accidentally as if waiting for applause, as the class clapped for him. Thomas smiled, but as the applause died down he was distracted by a student walking in…a very attractive student.

“I’m sorry, I’m not late, am I?” he asked.

“No, not at all, it just looked like everyone was here already so I began. Please, have a seat,” Thomas choked out; he found he suddenly had a lump in his throat. He continued, addressing the rest of the class, “Dr. Clarkson has another class right before this one, so he usually comes in a bit late. I’m normally here to let you in, though. Sorry, again!” A few students chuckled. “I’ll go ahead and pass out the syllabus. We’ll be doing a lecture today, but you should get out a little early.” Thomas focused on getting the classroom ready until Dr. Clarkson finally arrived.

Without any papers to grade, Thomas sat in the back of the class on his phone while Richard lectured. He did, however, take the liberty and opportunity to steal a few glances over at the attractive student that had come in late – Jimmy Kent, as he learned during roll call. After class was dismissed, Dr. Clarkson gave Thomas instructions for organizing the first quiz – Thomas’s heart went out to the students.

With his orders for the day, Thomas trudged back to the office to start work, while Richard got to go home. Thankfully, Dr. Clarkson had been gracious enough to not mention anything about their Season-One-Grey’s-Anatomy-esque night together over the summer. Thomas wasn’t necessarily proud of it, but it was quite a conquest. Distracted by memories of that night, Thomas, again, nearly ran directly into a student. Or, rather, a fellow student, as it turned out to be someone from his practicum course. He stopped to chat for a bit before slipping into the office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm an American undergrad college student, and I'm busy, so this won't be accurate to anything except US undergrad but whatever. I literally wrote this chapter in class, too. We'll see where this takes us.


	2. The First Exam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first exam of the semester approaches and Thomas has his work cut out for him.

A few weeks into the semester and some of the students were already beginning to struggle. The first exam was coming up and Thomas could tell everyone was dreading it. Thomas stopped Richard after class one day and convinced him to do a review game. Thomas would have to make it, of course, but if it helped everyone get through the class, he’d take the extra work; he knew Dr. Clarkson’s classes could be brutal for non-science people.

Thomas was still a bit fixated on Jimmy Kent, a Classical Studies major (music minor) who, in the right light, looked like he was made of gold. He, like his classmates, was somewhere in the Cs. Thomas suspected he wasn’t really taking the class seriously, however, given his area of study.

One night, a week before the exam, Thomas was working late in Dr. Clarkson’s office, splitting his time between highlighting and rewriting his own notes and inputting all relevant information into a jeopardy-style quiz game for the review. It was around 10 when Dr. Clarkson knocked on the door before letting himself in. Thomas wondered why he bothered knocking in the first place.

“Good evening, Thomas. I didn’t expect to find you still here; sorry if I disturbed you.”

"No problem, I just thought I’d get more done here rather than at home. Did you need something?”

“Oh, I came back for my glasses,” While Thomas half-listened to Richard go on about how he thought he left them in the car, he turned around and plucked them off the top of the computer monitor. “Ah, there they are, right where I left them. Thank you, Thomas.” As he took them from Thomas’s outstretched hand, he let his fingers hook onto Thomas’s. Thomas gave him a look and he retracted his hand.

“Are you planning on staying, Richard?”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind checking your work. Let’s see what you have so far,” he answered. Thomas swiveled back toward the desktop and pulled up the game. He could feel Richard behind him, reading over his shoulder. “Have you got an illustration for this one?” he asked as he leaned in to point at the screen, resting his other hand on Thomas’s shoulder. Thomas could see he was trying to be smooth, but the doctor was clearly out of practice.

Thomas turned so his face was nearly touching Dr. Clarkson’s neck. He smelled like old leather and iodine, and Thomas wondered what he did in his spare time. “I’ll be adding pictures when I’ve finished the text. Does your wife know you’re here?” Thomas spoke in a low voice. He, at least, knew what he was doing.

Dr. Clarkson moved his extended hand, which was now supporting his weight on the desk, to Thomas’s thigh, his breath heating up Thomas’s forehead as he turned. Thomas looked up so their faces were in line. “She’s visiting her sister,” Richard responded.

Thomas wasn’t sure who moved first, but after a moment their lips met. The pair spent the night in the office. Thankfully, Dr. Clarkson kept the essentials in stock, left over from his early days at the university when he, as Thomas understood it, frequently used the office as a second home when he was in the middle of writing articles and such. Although Thomas wasn’t necessarily opposed to getting involved in extramarital affairs, he certainly hadn’t intended to start one with his boss, although perhaps he had entertained the fantasy a few times in the past. At the same time, he wished it had been a different boss, if not because of Dr. Clarkson’s modest looks and lifestyle, but because he couldn’t convince him to shave off his moustache without arousing suspicion. It wasn't like he had the time to look elsewhere, though, and after that night it wasn’t uncommon for him to find himself bent over Clarkson’s desk in one way or another.

 

~

 

The day of the first exam, several students, despite all their preparation and excellent performance on the review game were quite nervous. In fact, only one student seemed completely at ease: Jimmy Kent. While Dr. Clarkson gave his instructions for the exam, Jimmy was distractedly picking at his fingernails. Thomas couldn’t watch him long, however, as Richard had started a rather annoying habit of making eye contact with Thomas throughout his lectures. Thomas, of course retaliated against his watchful eye by making Basic Instinct-esque gestures he knew would remind Richard of those long nights in the office. He knew it worked when Richard glared at him while the students worked or were otherwise distracted.

Roughly twenty minutes into the exam, Jimmy stood, turned in his exam, and left for the weekend. He couldn’t have been more nonchalant. Thomas groaned inwardly—he probably completely bombed. Aside from the loss of his potential, Thomas mourned for his previously arms-length relationship with the student he admired from afar as often as possible, as Dr. Clarkson would undoubtedly assign Thomas the task of outreach for the purpose of keeping Jimmy from failing the course. Thomas knew Dr. Clarkson’s failure rate was high due to his insistence on being a difficult professor, but, as his TA, all the work was now on Thomas’s shoulders, and Thomas wasn’t exempt from being “challenged.”

Sure enough, when Thomas graded the exams, Jimmy had failed while the rest of the class had done quite well (Thomas patted himself on the back for that success). When Dr. Clarkson looked over the results, he did indeed instruct Thomas to talk to Jimmy. Of course, Richard took the passive route and wrote “see me after class” on Jimmy’s exam, at which time Richard would direct him to Thomas and flee the campus. Thomas suspected this was why Clarkson both didn’t have kids and taught higher ed rather than primary or secondary school science.

So, just as Thomas had predicted, Clarkson sent Jimmy to him after the next class. Thomas was a little excited to get to talk to him, finally, but he would have preferred this exchange to take place somewhere more neutral, like a bar; the addition of alcohol would have also been a plus.

Jimmy stood in front of him expectantly.

“I know you’re more on the humanities side of the university. You’re a- Greek Literature major?”

“Classical Studies.”

“Right,” Thomas chuckled, “Well, It’s all Greek to me!” Jimmy smiled awkwardly. _Smooth_ , Thomas congratulated himself. If he was going to pretend he didn’t know all of Jimmy’s stats and figures, he might as well make a joke of it.

“Anyway, I know this is just a gen ed for you, but I wanted to know if you needed any help- I wanted to see what you’re having problems with.”

Jimmy hesitated. “I just- I’m not good at sciencey stuff.”

“Well, that’s understandable. That’s why I’m going into school psychology rather than medicine," Thomas smiled in commiseration, "Do you think if, maybe, we met once a week to go over the material one-on-one, that would help?”

“I guess…”

“I really don’t want you to fail, Jimmy.”

Jimmy sighed, “What time?”

Thomas beamed, perhaps too much so, “I’m free after this class! I’m in the office the rest of the day, so any time you want to just pop in, that’s fine.”

Jimmy looked thoughtful for a moment. “Do you mind if I bring lunch with me?”

Thomas laughed, “No, not at all. We can have lunch together!” _Uh-oh._

“Right, well, I guess I’ll see you after next class, then. Have a good afternoon, Mr. Barrow.”

“Sure, see you then. And, you, too!” As soon as Jimmy left, Thomas slouched into his chair. _Did I really just suggest we have a lunch date? What the fuck is wrong with me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty (100%) sure this chapter is awash with American concepts, but, again, I'm writing this during class. I guess, in fiction, this is all taking place in the US for some reason? Maybe they all thought it was very modern and very interesting?


	3. Lunch Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jimmy and Thomas have their first tutoring session over lunch.

Thomas was dreading the next class. He’d managed to avoid Richard the past couple nights; although he was less productive at home, he knew all he would be thinking about with Richard would be Jimmy. When the fated day finally came, Thomas threw himself into his morning classwork, and by the time he opened the lab for class he was done with three weeks’ worth of work. In a way, he wished he could have this anxiety all the time, just so he could maintain the pace at which he was working. Clearly, he needed to watch less _Coronation Street._

As usual, Jimmy was last to arrive, and it was as if it was just a normal day for him. Thomas felt a little disheartened at this, though he reminded himself that he really didn’t know Jimmy; he had no reason to think he would be as excited as he was.

Thomas spent the class preparing a list of things to go over at their meeting. He could feel Richard’s eyes on him, but he ignored them.

~

The wait in Richard’s office felt like an eternity. Thomas had planned on bringing something to eat with Jimmy, but he had forgotten about it; he didn’t have much of an appetite anyway, as it turned out.

Finally, there was a knock at the door, making Thomas jump. He ushered Jimmy in and sat him down in the guest chair across from Richard’s desk. He brought a ceramic bowl, a pack of plastic silverware, a full box of cereal, and a small jug of almond milk. _Fuck, that’s adorable_ , Thomas thought. “Is that what you usually eat for lunch?” he joked.

“I like breakfast foods,” Jimmy answered as he ripped the spoon out of the set. “Plus, I haven’t been to the store recently.”

“I remember those days.”

“Aren’t you still in ‘those days.’”

“Well, yes, but now I have a routine.” Thomas went to the store every Friday.

Jimmy smirked. “Sounds boring.”

“I’m an adult, I’m supposed to be boring.” Thomas returned the smirk.

“As far as adults I know are concerned, you’re only an adult when you have a real job that doesn’t give you homework.”

“When you’re a TA, you feel old around all the undergrad students, I guess.”

“Apparently.”

After a bit, Thomas pulled out his list and materials and got to work going through it with Jimmy. He wasn’t horrible at it, surprisingly. Thomas suspected it was more apathy than anything. By the time they’d finished Jimmy appeared to have a good grasp of most of the key concepts.

As he packed up his things—he ate three bowls full, and finished the whole jug of milk—he turned to Thomas. “By the way, the whole class is having a party this weekend to celebrate making it through the exam. You should stop by. You’re the one who’s idea it was to do that review, right?”

“I was.”

“Yeah, everybody said it saved them. I can email you the time and place when I get home if you want. They really hope to see you there.”

“Well, I- I might be able to stop by, just to congratulate everyone,” Thomas was aghast.

“I’ll see you there, then. Have a good weekend, if not.”

“Right, you, too, Jimmy.”

Thomas hadn’t been to a party in years. In fact, he was pretty sure the last real party he’d attended had been his ex, Tom’s, stag night. He was both apprehensive and excited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working on a more long-form project for NaNoWriMo this month, so I've just had two chapters of this sitting in my notebook waiting to be digitized. This one's short, but the next looks like it'll be at least a bit longer.


	4. The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas goes to a party and all is good.

When Thomas received the email from Jimmy that evening, his heart skipped a beat. His rational mind declared he would not attend, but he knew in the back of his mind that he would show up one way or another. When it came to attractive boys, Thomas had no spine.

Thomas woke up Saturday terrified. He’d slept in until nearly one in the afternoon after a long night catching up on Corrie and sending half-hearted flirty texts to Dr. Clarkson. The party wasn’t until six, so he would have to stew in his anxiety for the rest of the afternoon. He re-read the email again and again. On his fourth read, he realized Jimmy had listed his phone number below his name. Thomas had assumed it was a student ID number, but he had finally made the connection with the concluding sentence, “Let me know if you need directions.” Thomas carefully input the number into his phone and set the name as “DO NOT TEXT.” He would need every reminder to keep things professional, at least for now and especially when he was inevitably drunk and lonely in the middle of the night.

As it got closer and closer to 6‘o’clock, Thomas started to realize that he had no idea what he was doing. _What do I even wear to a house party? I don’t know anymore._ By five, he was panicking. Figuring this would fall under, “needing directions,” he sent a text to Jimmy’s number asking what the dress code was. After about fifteen painstaking minutes, he received a reply of ::lol, it’s just a party.:: Thomas was just about to sink into the pit of despair before his phone chimed again.

::so does that mean you’re coming?::

Thomas quickly responded, ::I have a few free minutes, and it’s for a good cause :):: but he didn’t have a lot of time left. _YOLO._ He picked out something nearly identical to the t-shirt and jeans he wore to Tom’s stag night and threw a blazer jacket on top to make it professional. Thinking back to how his contemporaries got dressed in his undergrad, as long as it didn’t have a stain or smell funny, it was good.

He was sitting at a red light by the time Jimmy responded.

::Good, I was hoping to see you::

What was that supposed to mean? Thomas didn’t have the chance to ask before he was in the driveway. Thankfully, there were several other cars already there and he could hear music inside the house. He stepped out of his car, but decided to take a smoke break before going in, just to take the edge off. As he leaned against his car, he heard a familiar voice coming up behind him.

“I didn’t know you smoked,” Jimmy said. Thomas turned, startled. Jimmy was carrying a sheet cake in one arm and a bottle of cheap wine in the other.

“I’m trying to quit. What’s the cake for?”

Jimmy was near enough to show him the decoration at this point. “I hope you aren’t offended,” he said.

Thomas was confused until he looked in the little plastic window. The cake read, “Fuck Dr. Clarkson,” in the school’s colors. Thomas laughed his cares away. He laughed until he nearly cried. Through the tears that did make it out, he asked, “You got that _professionally_ _done_?”

Jimmy was giggling along. The joke wasn’t really all that funny, but Thomas had been so nervous it didn’t matter. “I have a friend who decorates the cakes,” Jimmy answered. “Shall we go inside?” he asked once Thomas had calmed down.

Thomas agreed and stamped out his cigarette on the pavement.

When they walked in the door, half the class was milling about the living room and kitchen, having a good time. When they noticed the new arrivals, they broke into a cheer and applause. Thomas thought it must have been for the cake until he turned to see Jimmy attempting to clap along. Thomas quickly took the cake from him to ease his burden. One particularly extroverted—or drunk—girl ran up and captured Thomas in a bear hug. “You saved my life,” she gushed. The applause had turned back to chatter and some laughter at this point. A group of other girls giggled as they pulled their friend off Thomas. _Drunk_ , he decided.

Once the focus was off them, Jimmy led Thomas through the crowd to the kitchen, where all the food and drinks were set up. Thomas put down the cake and Jimmy opened his wine—which happened to be Thomas’s go-to brand. A few of the other students gathered around to collect their cake, so Thomas reserved himself a piece and started passing out plates. Once everyone had gotten a slice, a couple of them proposed a toast to passing the first exam—with Thomas’s help. A few others congratulated Jimmy for collecting the TA for the party.

After everyone had gone back to the crowd again, Jimmy poured Thomas some of his wine in a plastic cup. Thomas had intended on not drinking, since he drove there, but he figured he would just have this one drink and wait it out.

They shared a look, and Jimmy explained, “I volunteered to get you to come. It started out as a joke, but then a bunch of the girls wanted you here.”

Feeling bold, Thomas joked, “If attending a party and eating free cake gets my students laid, I’m happy to make that sacrifice.”

Jimmy laughed. “Well, I don’t know if your sacrifice would be in vain. I’d say it’d be more the other way around,” he hinted.

“Oh, I uh- I’m not—”

“You have a girlfriend?”

“No…”

They were cut off by a group of seniors bursting through the front door, arms full of different kinds of beers. The party erupted. Someone turned up the music and Thomas regretted starting a drink. Not wanting to set a bad example, he now had to endure this cacophony however long you’re supposed to wait after drinking to drive. As Jimmy excused himself and made his way toward the new drinks, Thomas pulled out his phone to check. However, one of the female students latched onto his arm. She shouted over the music and voices, “Come dance with me!”

“I don’t really dance,” Thomas responded. He did dance, just not with women and not to EDM.

“What?” she yelled.

“I don’t dance!” She looked at him quizzically. “I have to go!” Before she could protest, Thomas slipped out of her grasp and through the back door to the garden. Finding it deserted—by both people and plants—he sat down in the least dirty patio chair and stared up at the rear of the house. Remembering his query from before he was so rudely interrupted, he pulled his phone back out, and found that he should probably wait around for about an hour after finishing what was left in his cup, to make it a good average of the various times he was given. He downed the cup as fast as he could without getting heartburn, and started a timer.

Although being out in someone’s back garden alone reminded him of smoking, he refused to pull out his emergency pack again. _They’re only for awkward situations_ , he reminded himself. His phone buzzed; it was Jimmy.

::Where’d you go??::

::Back garden:: Thomas replied.

Thomas settled back into his staring-at-the-wall pose, expecting to wait a while for a reply, if there was one at all. Instead, Jimmy stepped through the door from the kitchen a few moments later.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked.

Thomas searched feverishly for something witty to say. “Waiting for death,” was not it, but it’s what he said anyway. “That’s what kids these days say, right?”

Jimmy laughed and shook his head. “How old are you?”

“Twenty five.”

He laughed even more. “You’re not old, Mr. Barrow.” He wiped off the patio chair next to him and sat down.

“Call me Thomas, in that case. But only outside of class.”

“Okay, Thomas. What are you _really_ doing out here all alone?”

“A drunk woman was trying to get me to dance with her and I needed an out.”

Jimmy giggled. “You don’t like dancing?”

_Finally._ “Not with women.” Why was it still so hard to make this come up in conversation? He raised his eyebrows at Jimmy to make sure he got his point across.

Jimmy leaned across the armrest of his chair toward Thomas. “You’re just full of surprises,” he laughed.

“Am I?”

“Do you have a boyfriend, then?”

He wasn’t expecting him to be so interested. Plus, he wasn’t sure how to answer. He shrugged. _Is Richard my boyfriend?_

Jimmy, somehow, leaned in closer. “What does _that_ mean?”

Thomas thought for a moment. “I’m kind of seeing someone, but not really? I probably shouldn’t talk about it, actually.”

Jimmy appeared to settle down a bit. “Oh. Why not?”

Thomas looked down at his hands and shrugged again.

“It’s not Dr. Clarkson is it?” he joked.

Thomas’s head shot up, and he immediately cursed himself for it. He looked at Jimmy guiltily.

“ _Oh my God_. _You’re_ seeing Dr. Clarkson? Isn’t he married?”

“He is married. I wouldn’t call him my boyfriend, but it is an affair,” Thomas relented.

Jimmy appeared to be in shock. He sat back in his chair for a moment before he was back on the armrest, just as excited as before. “Does he have a huge cock or something?”

“Excuse me?” Now Thomas was the one in shock.

“I mean- I just meant he doesn’t seem like your type, is all.”

“What is my type?”

“I don’t know. Someone younger, probably.”

“Someone like y--“ _Fuck._

Jimmy giggled. Thomas watched him out of the corner of his eye. Was he blushing? “Someone like me?”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Jimmy scooted his chair closer.

Thomas watched him carefully. “For saying that. It’s highly inappropriate.”

“Don’t be. If I’m honest, I’ve had a crush on you for a while.”

_What?_ “You _have_?” His heart felt like it would beat out of his chest. “Wait, you didn’t fail that exam on purpose did you?”

“No! I just hate your class. No offense.” Jimmy was leaning on _Thomas’s_ armrest now, their chairs nearly touching. Thomas could feel Jimmy’s body heat radiating off of him. He expected him to smell like beer, but he didn’t; it was mostly just the smell of hair product.

“None taken.” Before he could say any more, his phone’s timer went off. “Sorry, I set an alarm for when I would be okay to drive home,” he explained as he turned it off. He thought for a moment. “Do you, uh, want a lift? I mean, you walked here didn’t you?”

Jimmy grinned. “I wouldn’t mind it. Right now?”

“Sure, if you’re ready.”

They stood and started walking around to the front of the house via the gate connecting the back garden to the driveway. Once they reached Thomas’s car, Jimmy hesitated. “What about Dr. Clarkson?”

Thomas unlocked the doors. “What about him?”

“I mean—I don’t know, really,” Jimmy shrugged. Thomas stared at him for a bit before they both got in the car. “My place or yours?” he asked as he buckled his seatbelt.

Thomas laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Jimmy’s forehead got all bunched up, and Thomas thought it was adorable.

“I’m sorry, I meant for this to be a platonic drive.” Something inside him was screaming at him for correcting Jimmy.

“…Oh. So, you’re really _seeing_ Dr. Clarkson?” he sounded quite disheartened.

“No, it’s not that, I just didn’t realize- I didn’t think you’d agree to the _other_ type of drive.”

Jimmy seemed utterly confused at this point. “I said I liked you, didn’t I? I thought you liked me, too?”

“I do,” he answered, almost in a whisper as if he thought they could be overheard. Thomas could feel his face turning red. “Doesn’t it seem strange, though?”

Jimmy dropped down to a near-whisper as well, “What do you mean?” It struck Thomas that they sounded like they were having an argument in a library.

“You know, I grade your exams and all that?”

“Do you think I’m trying to get better marks by sleeping with you?”

“I didn’t say that! People might think it, though.”

“ _You’re_ the one having an affair with your geriatric boss!”

Jimmy had a point. “He’s not that old.”

“He’s old enough to be both of our fathers!” They had both leaned in, given the volume of their conversation. Jimmy sat back in his seat, and he returned to speaking in a normal voice. “Are we doing this or not?”

Thomas did the same. “I just bought a set of hotel-style bedding, and I don’t have roommates,” he offered.

“How thin are your walls?” Jimmy asked.

_Cheeky._ “I live in a detached house.”

“Fair enough. Your place it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know when I'll be able to pick this back up as I'm working on two other projects right now plus a few real projects, ie writing for school, but, since I can write a lot of this in class I could get the last chapter or so out soonish (it is winding down, after all). Stay tuned.


	5. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas and Jimmy have spent the weekend together, but there's a mustachioed loose end that needs tying up...

Thomas awoke to a text from Richard. For a moment he forgot he had a naked Jimmy Kent wrapped around him, and was suddenly self-conscious as he was also naked. It was early Monday morning, so he should have been used to it by now.

He peered sleepily at his phone. ::Don’t forget I need those handouts printed:: Instead of replying, he checked the time; he had an hour before his first class of the day.

He looked back at Jimmy, who had his face buried between Thomas’s back and a pillow. Thomas tapped one of his arms which was draped across his waist.

“Mm?” he responded.

“I have to go to class.”

“No.”

“I have to turn in a paper today, I have to go.”

“No, stay with me,” he whined.

Thomas gently extracted himself from Jimmy’s arms and got out of bed. Jimmy sat up.

“Do you have time to drop me off?” he asked.

“You don’t have to leave if you don’t want to. I’ll be back this afternoon.” Jimmy immediately flopped back down. Thomas giggled. “Are you moving in?” he joked.

“You have a whole house to yourself, you’re fully stocked with food, and you suck a mean dick. Why would I ever leave?” he answered, eyes closed, characteristic smirk across his face.

“I’m going to take a shower. Do you want to join me?”

Jimmy rolled out of bed and followed Thomas to the bathroom.

~

The next day, Thomas went to open the lab, only to find Jimmy—who he’d dropped off at his dormitory Monday evening and hadn’t seen since—waiting for him along with Dr. Clarkson. Thomas approached cautiously. They were discussing one of the topics from the tutoring session.

“Hello,” Thomas greeted as he fumbled with his keys. Richard turned around. “Oh, hello, Thomas.”

“You’re both here early.”

“Yes, I was hoping to speak with you about something.”

“Sure,” Thomas unlocked and opened the lab door, “Go on in, Jimmy.”

Jimmy smirked at him from behind Dr. Clarkson before slipping into the lab.

“What is it, Richard?” Thomas asked in a low voice.

“I was wondering what happened to you this weekend,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“You seemed to drop off the face of the Earth.”

“Ah. Yeah, I- I got busy, sorry.”

Richard placed a hand on Thomas’s arm. “Are you going to be working tonight?”

_Saying no would just drag it out._ “I suppose, but I’ll be meeting with Jimmy again after class.”

Richard dropped his hand. “Oh.”

“Is that all you wanted?”

“Yes, let’s go on in,” Richard answered. He ushered Thomas into the room first and followed shortly after, each man going to their respective seats.

Thomas’s phone buzzed in his pocket. ::r u still “seeing” Dr. Clarkson?:: Jimmy asked.

The pair shared a look across the classroom while Richard was laying out a diagram on the whiteboard.

::I’m trying not to be, y?::

::I just think u’d look better with a younger, clean shaven, tan bf::

::You and I both know the tan is fake::

::Not the point::

Thomas repressed a laugh. ::Are you asking to be my boyfriend?::

:: ;) ::

::I’ll see what I can do::

Once most of the students had trickled in, Thomas began passing out the handouts Richard had asked him to make copies of. Throughout the lecture, he barely looked at Thomas. Without the constant eye contact, Thomas was finally able to focus on other things. As he rewrote his notes, he found himself doodling little hearts and J’s all over the margins of his notebook. He smiled to himself.

At the end of class, he collected the handouts while the students packed up their things. Richard also packed up, and left with the first of the students, having explained that he had a meeting to get to. A group of students who were at the party crowded around Thomas. “Where did you go after the cake?” one of them asked.

Thomas glanced over at Jimmy. “Oh, I, uh—”

“I drank too much too quickly and got sick, so Mr. Barrow drove me home,” Jimmy lied.

Several of the girls cooed at Thomas’s paternality. The rest, satisfied with the answer, meandered out after some brief small talk, finally leaving Thomas and Jimmy alone.

“Do you want me to pick you up something to eat?” Jimmy asked.

Thomas shrugged. “I’ll eat whatever, you know what I like.”

“So, I should get you a box of chocolates and a cheesecake sampler for lunch?”

“Don’t get my hopes up.”

~

Thomas and Jimmy met up again in Dr. Clarkson’s office. As Jimmy had to work that afternoon, they didn’t get to go into much depth. However, Jimmy was doing excellently.

“You’ve really improved over the weekend. Have you been secretly studying?”

“No, I’m just starting to like your biology a lot. I mean- your biology _class_ , that is,” he teased. Thomas laughed. “I’d better get going. See you later, Thomas.” He reached down and gave Thomas’s hand a squeeze before leaving.

~

That night, Thomas waited for Richard to come by. He got the handouts graded, noticing that Jimmy had dotted the ‘i’ in his name with a tiny heart, which he’d never done before.

When Richard finally arrived, he went straight in for a kiss. _No more playing around, I suppose._ After a moment, Thomas pulled away. He’d thought about what he would say since the night of the party, “We need to stop this. You’re married.”

Richard sighed. To Thomas’s surprise, he responded with,” You’re right.” He took a long pause. “I’ve been a fool. I suppose it was just a midlife crisis.”

_At sixty-some years old?_ Thomas remained silent.

Dr. Clarkson stepped back, and seemed to think for a while. “I should go home. It was nice while it lasted. Oh, but, don’t worry about your job; I do have some professionalism left in me.”

“I know, Richard.”

“Goodnight, Thomas,” he said in a somber tone.

“Goodnight.”

~*~

Epilogue:

It was the end of the school year. Jimmy stayed at Thomas’s house most nights, to the point that his old roommate had basically moved his girlfriend in with him. Thomas felt a twinge of familial bliss every time he had to maneuver around Jimmy’s car in his driveway, despite his irritation at how terribly Jimmy parked.

Jimmy was graduating, finally, and the pair had plans to formally live together afterward. Jimmy had finished Dr. Clarkson’s class with a C, and Richard received a joke commendation from the department for not failing anyone that semester, though everyone knew he wouldn’t have done it without Thomas. Thomas was even given a promotion of sorts, as the dean’s assistant for the coming year. Jimmy wasn’t planning on pursuing a post-grad degree, but had a few offers for local, full time positions.

Taking a page out of the previous class’s book, this semester’s BIO 100 students threw a post-final exam party and once again invited Thomas. Jimmy had used his connections to get a cake again, this one proclaiming, “TGFMB,” or, “Thank God for Mr. Barrow.”

As they drove to the party’s location, Thomas was anxiously tapping the steering wheel.

“Why are you so nervous? It’s just a party,” Jimmy asked.

“It’s not _just_ a party; by bringing you along, I’m basically guaranteeing I’ll have to come out to all my students.”

“So? You told your parents when you were, like, twelve. You're out to everyone you know-”

“They’ll ask how we met, and they’ll think I’m creepy.”

“Not if we leave early, like last time,” he suggested in a flirty tone of voice. “Besides, I’m the one who asked you out, remember?”

“ _I_ offered to give _you_ a ride and _you_ misinterpreted it. Would you be terribly upset if we cut the cake and ran?”

“I assumed that was the plan all along,” Jimmy laughed, offering a hand across the center console. Thomas held it the rest of the drive, feeling a bit better about the whole thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all she (I) wrote. I'm almost 10k words deep into my longform fic/project (it's mostly serious and about Thomas's childhood if you're interested in that sort of thing), and I've got a ~6k word chapter of a certain annually-updated fic coming down the pipes, plus ~7 essays of varying length I have to write in the next 2.5 weeks or so. I've never done so much writing in my whole life, why do I do this to myself?
> 
> Anyway, thanks for all y'all's comments and kudos over the course of this tiny story, they're much appreciated! :)


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